Focusing on material things can sometimes motivate an individual to strive harder in order for them to get what they want, but after doing so, did that hard work eventually pay off? It's been a long debate between material things VS experience. As per Davild Wolfe website, tudies revealed that investing on experiences rather than things can lead to a more successful individual.
A University professor at Cornell University, Dr Thomas Gilovich has been studying the correlation between money and happiness. During one interview with the Fast Company he stated that experiences are far more important than material things.
One of the enemies of happiness is adaptation, We buy things to make us happy, and we succeed. But only for a while. New things are exciting to us at first, but then we adapt to them. Our experiences are a bigger part of ourselves than our material goods. You can really like your material stuff. You can even think that part of your identity is connected to those things, but nonetheless they remain separate from you. In contrast, your experiences really are part of you. We are the sum total of our experiences."
He then added that
"We consume experiences directly with other people, and after they're gone, they're part of the stories that we tell to one another. By shifting the investments that societies make and the policies they pursue, they can steer large populations to the kinds of experiential pursuits that promote greater happiness,"
As per Business Insider, CEOs of top companies would opt for employees that are more experience oriented that those who would splurge on material things after getting their pay checks. Christian Mischler, COO, CMO and co-founder of Hotel Quickly stated that he wan't an employee who travels and explore the world,
"Travel the world! Explore new regions and cultures, it creates independence and gives you experience that will have lastingly positive effect on the rest of your life."
